With the help of Wayne State University, facelifts of a handful of old buildings, many of them once at the heart of the automotive industry, are leading the way in the revitalization of one small corner of Detroit. Building by building, block by block, the university is gradually helping to transform an area that was, until very recently, known more for its blight than for its bustle. Just as its collegiate cousins in places like Philadelphia and Cincinnati have done, Wayne State is eager to spruce up the neighborhoods around its campus and bolster a local economy sagging under the weight of the foundering auto companies. Its early success is already evident. The areas known as Midtown, where Wayne State is located, and New Center, just a few blocks north, where the auto barons anchored their fledgling industry nearly a century ago, are gradually reviving at a pace not yet seen in other parts of the city. Wayne State is a public research institution of 31,000 students, the vast majority of whom work and commute to class. With its eclectic urban campus perched about three miles north of downtown, the scrappy, resourceful university sees itself as the logical driver of an ambitious vision for this corner of the city. It hopes to use the revitalization efforts to make the areas around the campus a more appealing place for students to live. Officials repeatedly point out that they have several other partners in the revitalization efforts. But observers say the university's mere presence has fueled much of the growth. University officials and neighborhood activists are fully aware that the plan for growth is completely at odds with the way the rest of the country views their city--as a dying town whose sole economic driver is the auto industry. It is a depiction they feel compelled to set straight.